Mammooty has hands full for three years

Thiruvananthapuram, June 13 (IANS): The Malayalam film industry is going through one of its worst phases but superstar Mammooty is committed to make 17 films that will keep him busy for the next three years.

Among those who have signed him up are leading directors like Joshi, I.V. Sasi, Shaji Kailas, Hariharan, Sathyan Anthikad, Lohithadas, Kamal, Renjith and K. Madhu.

Besides 14 Malayalam films, Mammooty has been signed for two in Tamil and one in Hindi.

Speaking to IANS, Mammooty said of the Malayalam films, one had been completed, work on two were going on, a few were in the discussion stages

and others were in the pipeline.

"Yes, I am extremely delighted and believe me, this was bound to happen. Don't you think I have been working very hard? I am certainly happy for the next three years," he said.

One of the films that is to be released shortly is "Aparichithan" directed by debutant Sanjeev Sivan, brother of ace cinematographer Santhosh Sivan, who wielded the camera for the movie.

Mammooty plays a professional wildlife photographer and has Kavya Madhavan, the current sensation in Malayalam films, partnering him.

Another film that has caused ripples in the industry is "Brand Brahamandan" because it has the presence of Raj Mohan Unnithan, a senior Congress leader who is in the news in Kerala.

Unnithan was selected by director Shaji Kailas after being inspired by his political speeches as part of his tirade against Congress veteran K. Karunakaran and his family over the past few months.

Yesteryear's hit maker I.V. Sasi, who played a stellar role in Mammooty's career in the 1980s, has cast him in a double role in "Inspector Balaram Vs Taradas".

Hariharan, who directed "Oru Vadakan Veera Gatha" that brought Mammooty his first Bharat Award, has cast him in "Payamvelli Chanthu".

K. Madhu, the director behind "Sethuramaiyer CBI", one of the biggest grossers this year, has signed up the star for the fourth film in his CBI

series -- "CBI Four".

Ace filmmaker Kamal, who has been successful in a series of films with new faces, has decided to cast Mammooty as a sports coach in a yet to be named film.

Apart from the hit makers, K.K. Rajiv a big name in the Malayalam TV industry, has decided to rope in Mammooty for his debut film which also is

yet to be titled.

Last year, Mammooty's "Chronic Bachelor" was a huge success and then came the mega-hit, "Sethuramaiyer CBI".

Since then, despite the huge cost involved in a Mammooty film, producers have been willing to take the risk and that is why his hands are full for the next three years.

Mammooty said he was happy for more reasons than one. The discussions that he had with directors of the new projects showed that each film had a different theme and a different storyline.

"I am all the more happy because I am going to work with people who have various mental make ups and that should be exciting," he said.

Mammooty's busy period comes at a time when the other Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, who recently completed his silver jubilee in the industry, is not doing well with his last two films bombing at the box office.